Bulk Loading

[peter_n]

hey Kin & Stu thanks for the info! Good to hear from users... 🙂

 

[denishr]

My Kaiser bulk loader is exactly the same as the "Jessops" brand from Peter's link. I guess the one shown on auction is a Kaiser rebranded by Jessops.
Anyway, the loader works just great.

 

[hoppinghippos]

don't use reloadable cannisters, you don't know if they're still light tight after several uses and they're a devil to insert the film into the gap, plus most imptly, you don't know when the cloth at the gap is dirty and your film is scratched. if you use it over and over again, its inevitable it'll get dirty. simply go to your neighbourhood lab, smile a lot and ask nicely for discarded cannisters! plus these cannisters are already DX coded (if your camera reads DX)

 

[jdos2]

Does popping open the cans from the lab bend them so they can't be made light tight? The cans I buy are fairly easy to take apart- the metal ones "pop," the plastic ones unscrew a bit, and then come apart (and I think that's the more secure way).

 

[denishr]

I've always used plastic canisters - I tried metal ones, but didn't like them - too insecure for me - i.e. I was never sure whether the cap is tight enough.
As I said, never had any problems with plastic ones - and those 6 or 7 I had previously got reloaded more times than I can remember (dozens of times each,at least!). No scratches, no problems whatsoever. Much easier to load and handle than metal (USED!) ones. I must stress that I tried metal used cans - not the ones designed for reloading, but ordinary color film metal cans, which I opened using bottle opener 🙂
I understand that you can buy metal canisters designed for reloading, though I never tried those.
You can use discarded metal ones from the photo-labs without opening them by simply joining the bulk film to the remaining piece of original film still protruding from the container, using sticky tape, as described on many Web sites on bulk loading.

 

[pshinkaw]

If you need DX coding, you can buy DX coded stick on labels. Porters has them, probably other places too.

Most 1-hour photo labs do not pop open their cassettes. They fish out the leader and pull the film out. If you get used cassettes from them, they will not have been pried open.

Non-Kodak cassettes are easier to open without damage.

-Paul

 

[denishr]

If you need DX coding, you can buy DX coded stick on labels. Porters has them, probably other places too.

-Paul

DX coding? WHo needs friggin' DX coding in a rangefinder camera?!!
😀

Seriously, though, I don't think it should be too difficult to print your own DX coded labels - there are several sites that describe the codes. A bit of playing around in a vector drawing program, and you can make your own....
Yesterday I did my labels for the new canisters I got - no DX codes, though. Don't need those steenkin' DX codes 🙂

 

[jdos2]

Hmmm. A little aluminum foil, a little duct (sorry, "duck") tape, and there ya go!

 

[peter_n]

OK it looks like the loader that goes under the various names Kaiser, Jessops, AP, "Bakelite" etc is basically the same thing with different badges on it. I did a bit of research and this is the cheapest one I could find - $39.99:

Arista 35mm Bulk Film Loader

Also I was reading a thread on photo.net last week and a number of former "bulkers" had gone back to buying film in cassettes because they claimed that the savings weren't enough to make up for the hassle of bulk loading.

The one situation where everyone agreed that bulk loading made sense was if you used short rolls for any reason - testing or whatever, say 12-18 exposures/roll. In that situation it's worth it.

 

[jdos2]

Well...
If I buy film at a buck for 36 shots, put it in a re-usable 50 cent container, and develop it myself...

So far, it's been worth it.

But I can understand someone thinking it not. It's not THAT much a pain, though, to save some $?

 

[peter_n]

I guess people have problems bulk loading. Personally I'm attracted to it and may well end up doing it...